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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Veekes and Thomas: My favourite find this year (so far)

Stalking food reviews and new establishments in Bangalore finally paid off when Tuhi, The Nympho and I visited Veekes and Thomas. This place has gotten some outstanding reviews and this (and the promise of cheap Italian food) saw us head here for lunch. The place is very small and there are just 3 tables. It is best if you go in a group of 2/3. More than 4 of you shouldn't visit this place as there won't be enough seating space. (They are largely a catering business). The decor is charming and very nicely done.

This place has the awesome concept of half portions. Now if you are a greedy foodie, you must have found yourself wanting to order more than one dish on the menu just that tummy and financial constraints stop you. At V&T, they have half portions for almost all the dishes. This would also help people like Lil Prude who have teeny weeny appetites. For those (normal people) who don't its an awesome way to try various dishes on the menu.

For starters we ordered the Chicken Salami and Mushroom Oyster Crostini (Rs.40 - yup! you read right). The bread was soft and nice and I loved my first taste of oysters.

The flavours were wonderful and the taste quite unlike anything I've had before. I ordered the Cilantro Pesto in Peanut Sauce (Rs. 35 - yeah, you can keep rubbing your eyes) which was my favourite dish of the day. Penne in pesto sauce that had a strong and wonderful peanut undertone. The olives added just the right 'tang' to it. The dish is not spicy, neither is it mild. I think this dish is a must have for all the wonderful flavours that it has. The Nympho ordered Cilantro Chicken in White Sauce (Rs. 49). The menu indicated that it was quite spicy and the cilantro chicken was but the bland white sauce complemented it perfectly. I liked the spice in it and thought the flavour tasted distinctly Indian. Tuhi ordered the Chicken Basil-Parsely Pesto Pasta (Rs.49). which was a little disappointing. The pasta was a little bland a needed a little more salt. It wasn't bad but I guess our expectations were a little high after the first two dishes.

For round two, I chose the Orange Peel Chili Risotto (this wasn't my first choice but it sounded so exotic that I decided to give it a try. Rs 35).

This was a concoction with orange peel, cheddar cheese

and healthy spattering of citrus juice. Though it had a spice warning on it, I found the dish to be a little sweet. It might not be to everyone's liking but if you are willing to take a risk, try this dish. I quite liked the flavours that it brought together. Tuhi ordered the Chicken Paccata (Rs. 99. This is for the full portion as this is one of the few dishes that doesn't come in half portions). This was chicken breast grilled in brown and white wine sauce. The chicken had a nice texture it and the crust was incredibly tasty. The portions for this were quite healthy.

The mashed potatoes were very well done too. The Nympho ordered the Shepherd's Pie which consisted of minced chicken cooked in butter and garlic and surrounded by lovely cheesy mashed potatoes topped with herbs (Drools!).

While they have a decent dessert menu,

only two were available today: The Chocolate Brownie (Rs. 29) and the Mocca (Rs.29). The Mocca was OK. Sufficient amount of chocolate mousee to satisfy most people. The chocolate brownie was soft, chocolatey and yumm. It had a lovely walnutty feel to it too.

Finally, we were full and decided to leave (I think I heard the kitchen staff breathe a sigh of relief when we called for the bill ;) ). If it isn't obvious, I highly recommend this place. Exotic Conti fare with an Indian flavour at very affordable rates. Don't go to there in large groups though.

Another cool thing about this place is that they are very eco friendly and they serve the food in 'donnas': the leaf plates/cups in which you receive prasadam at temples. They also deliver ( http://www.veekesandthomas.com/)

hi shruti, u have an awesome blog! yesterday we ordered from Vand T, they really are as good as u have written in ur blog. we were suprised by the quality of food. I haev a 4 mth old baby at home and really diff to step out to dine out. ANd there are not many options in jayanagar and JP Nagar,,deicided to give this place a try and boy! are they good.. we tried shepherd pie, broken mustard pasta , cilantro peanut pesto pasta and chicken stroganoff- all very very yummy..pl do a few more reviews of places around JP nagar and Jayanagar. BTW not sure if you have tried them, but papa John's garlic parmesan breadsticks are finger licking good